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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Collinson publishes post on Electrify Africa Act

On May 12, 2014, Erin Collinson (MDP '13) published a post on the Center for Global Development's blog about the Electrify Africa Act that the U.S. House of Representatives had just passed.

Her blog post is as follows:

Late last week, the House of Representatives passed the Electrify Africa Act (H.R. 2548), a bill aimed at improving access to reliable, affordable energy across sub-Saharan Africa. Here's a summary of the bill and here's why it matters:

1) The House approved bipartisan legislation!

With so much attention focused on partisan vitriol, we should celebrate cross-party consensus - and in an election year, no less! Look no further than the bill's sponsors, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), along with their dedicated staffs for setting an important example, shepherding the bill through committee, and marshaling support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The Electrify Africa Act also enjoyed support from a diverse coalition of outside allies, including the ONE Campaign and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. And as Ben Leo pointed out, the bill benefited from analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which calculated its provisions would actually save $86 million over five years.